DIGGING DEEPER: Kindergarten suspensions in Rockford's public schools

There were 137 out of school suspensions in a single year in the Rockford public schools. But RPS officials say it's not about the numbers.

"You cannot have children in an environment that threatens the safety of other children or is a significant disruption to the learning environment, you just can't," says RPS executive director for student services and alternative learning, Angela Hite-Carter.

Reasons for suspensions vary, but for some instances there's a zero tolerance policy in place.

"I have had kindergarteners bring look alike weapons to school. That might be something like a squirt gun or a cap gun. But when it comes to school, it looks like a real weapon," says Beyer School principal Christine Smith.

Gerry Ford, the director of youth programs at the Northwest Community Center says sometimes school officials make mistakes when disciplining kids.

"Sometimes, like in the court system, some people are falsely accused," says Ford.

But school officials say teaching kids intellectually and socially is a team effort.